Guide on How to Change Oil in Lawn Mower

A reliable lawnmower or lawn tractor is a tool, without which it is impossible to create a smooth, beautiful lawn on the site. But the best technique can fail you if you do not provide it with proper maintenance.

Changing oil in lawn mower regularly is a necessary element of tool care, which ensures its reliable operation and durability.

The process of replacing the oil in the lawnmower is written down in the instructions that are attached to your tool. If the documentation has been lost, do not worry. You can easily change the oil yourself following a few steps.

Internal combustion engines used in lawnmowers are two-stroke and four-stroke. It’s necessary to know that the oil for a lawnmower with the four-stroke engine is poured separately from gasoline. For a two-stroke engine, a fuel mixture is prepared with the addition of oil. At the same time, different compositions are recommended, which cannot be replaced and mixed.

The Role of Oil in Internal Combustion Engines

The energy transmitted by the motor shaft to the rotating mechanisms is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the gases at the time of the explosion in the combustion chamber. Due to the movement of the piston in the combustion chamber, gases are compressed. This means that the system works with minimal gaps and abrasion appears on the mating parts. The gap between the parts increases, and the compression decreases, the necessary pressure is not reached to ignite the fuel-air mixture.

This is how it would be if the parts worked without lubrication. Motor oil for Honda lawnmowers, added to gasoline or falling on the nodes of the crankcase, is applied with a thin film between the parts, preventing wear and tear. Since absolutely no wear can be eliminated, the oil flushes the microparticles in the gaps, preventing them from destroying the surface.

The prepared fuel mixture should be used for 2 weeks, remaining in a metal or polypropylene container. Do not store the composition of gasoline in polyethylene bottles. The decomposition products will fall into the mixture and the deposit in the combustion chamber will increase.

The devices with two-stroke and four-stroke engine types are different and therefore the consistency of the lubricant, the additives in it are different. Each type of conjugate nodes in the mechanisms requires the kinds of lubrication that correspond to the nature of the movement of this node. The manufacturer a riding mower recommends in the instruction manual what kind of oil should be poured into the lawn mower.

You cannot pour oil, thinking the more expensive, the better. The use of ingredients depends on the class of equipment, the degree of grinding of the conjugate units, and operating conditions. The composition of the fuel mixture for two-stroke engines depends on the method of obtaining the basis of antifriction composition. The oil for a lawn mower with 2 stroke engines has a special composition. All oils are separated by the production method:

Mineral;

Synthetic;

Semisynthetic.

This affects their lubricating qualities and the ability to remain liquid when the temperature decreases. But 5–15% of each composition is assigned to additives. They create an effective composition that prevents the following:

Corrosion of surfaces;

Thermal stability;

Resistance to decomposition;

Increase alkalinity, preventing oxidation;

The viscosity is stabilized.

The oil used with a 4-stroke engine for the Craftsman lawnmower has other additives and viscosity. It also serves to wash the moving surfaces but does not mix with gasoline. The oil is oxidized, contaminated with scale particles and requires replacement every 50 hours of operation.

What Kind of Oil Should Be Poured into the Lawn Mower?

Before changing the oil in the John Deere lawn mower, see the operating instructions. It indicates the recommended consistency of lubricant. It’s inefficient to use more viscous lubricant because you need a special pump for its processing, which is not present in some models. Practically liquids of the quality class SF, SG, SH, SJ, and above are suitable for all mowers.

The choice of oil depends on the weather conditions. Pay attention that in hot weather (more than 30 degrees), you need to change the lubricant more often. In the summertime, it is best to use SAE-30. The optimum temperature for this type of oil is from +5 to +30 degrees.

In the off-season and with a sharp change in the weather, it’s recommended opting for the 10W-30. It should be noted that this liquid is suitable for almost all brands of equipment. However, its consumption is quite significant. To reduce oil consumption, it’s recommended using a synthetic oil such as Synthetic 5W-30. It should be noted that with the liquid of this brand it is possible to work even in severe frost. The minimum declared temperature is -40 Celsius.

How to Drain Oil from Lawn Mower When Changing Oil

The algorithm for changing the oil in the Briggs and Stratton lawnmower is approximately the same as for other models and contains the following steps:

First turn off the engine of the device.

Find the drain hole and remove the oil. Use a special container for disposal. If you don’t know how you get oil out, check the instructions that go together with your lawnmower.

The oil is best drained after you warm up the engine because in the warmer form it gets a more fluid consistency and it is easier to remove.

After the old oil has been drained, fill it with a new one.

Here is a video, where explained how to change the oil in Husqvarna YHT 48 mower:

How to Change Oil in a 4-Stroke Engine

The manufacturer in the instruction manual gives a schedule of maintenance of the mechanisms and the procedure for the production of the work. The lubrication efficiency is reduced after 50 hours of operation. Therefore, an oil change is required.

In domestic use, it’ll be hard to use the device for so long for a season. It’s necessary to clean the oil filter and replace the oil during conservation. Before you change the oil in push mower, it is necessary to increase the fluidity of the fluid, start the engine, allowing the system to warm up.

It is necessary to unscrew the plug to fill the oil in the tank and use the device to take the liquid under vacuum.

To do this, make a nozzle and pour out the used oil into the prepared container. But at the same time a small part, up to 100 ml remains in the crankcase and drains off the filter. This residue should be disposed of, draining the liquid for 5 minutes through the hole. Simultaneously change or flush the filter in the system. After, you need to pour a new lubricant, controlling the level of the probe. Usually, the engine oil is packed in opaque black plastic so that it does not decompose into the light. The required volume is 500–600 ml.